It’s been just over a week since my adventures with the Pearl Flip began and it’s been a week of exploration, discovery, delight and occasional frustration. I wanted to talk a bit about the text-input system that the Pearl uses.

The BB Flip, like many other small-form-factor handsets has to overcome the challenge of allowing email and texting to work without requiring a full keyboard. Each of the keys has two letters on it and they can be used to enter text into the phone. The main advantage over most standard handsets is that the order of the letters follows a traditional QWERTY keyboard rather than the [ 2|abc ] [ 3|def ] buttons etc.

There are two different input methods, the first is a pretty traditional multi-tap method where you press a key either once or twice to get the first or second letter. The Pearl Flip and some other BB models also employ a predictive text-entry system that RIM calls SureType in place of the multi-tap system. This is similar to the T9 text-entry system that’s found on many other phone models by Motorola, Samsung and others.

My first few minutes with SureType were, to say the least, aggravating. It takes some time to realize that the predictive text continually re-analyzes what you type. Typing the word “super” for example, goes through the following “predictive guesses”. The bullets below represent the top choice on the list after each keypress:

• a
• au
• sip
• supe rmarket – (yes, this really was top of the list)
• super

The key with SureType is to keep typing and not let the predictive text fool you into thinking that the system is too dumb to figure out what you’re trying to say. As long as you stay away from Acronyms (particularly specialized acronyms) it does a pretty good job of selecting what you want.

SureType will also learn as you go, adding in words and phrases that you get it to enter. These aren’t easy to do (like usernames for email accounts) so it’s a good thing that it remembers them. Trying to type in “kdmurray” the first few times to test out my blog and Gmail was quite a feat.

SureType doesn’t work perfectly all the time and it seems to have some interesting word choices which certainly don’t seem intuitive at the time – that may simply be a case of context. It does however speed up typing compared to Multi-tap when it’s working the way we want it to (and you’re using boring normal words). I’ll talk more about the SureType in a later post once I’ve worked with it more fully for a while. For now, the jury’s still out.

I’ve made a concerted effort to avoid display stands that have the new flip on them so that I can channel all my first impressions to the blog. (It’s been tough for a gadget geek to avoid playing with the new toy…)

At first blush the package looks pretty much like every other PCS phone I’ve ever opened. Nice white box with TELUS’ signature future friendly brand.  Looking over the gear that ships in the box:

• Wall charger
• USB charging cable
• Stereo headset
• Obligatory ‘getting started’ manual
• Black (thank heaven) BlackBerry Pearl Flip

The unit itself is very light (likely due to it’s 90% plastic shell) and the screen is very clear and bright — much moreso than my Curve, and even my iPod Touch.  This was a bit surprising considering the size of the device.  It sounds like, from what I’ve been told, the previous generation BB Pearl also had a very clear screen.

The only downside I can see from the initial design is that RIM has not to use the widely available mini-USB plugs for the charging/sync cable that plugs into the phone, and have used a much less common micro-USB.  This means that if I forget the charger somewhere, the cable for my BB Curve (or my camera, USB hub, card reader etc.) won’t work with the Flip.  This is the only blemish on an otherwise stellar first day.

I’m looking forward to exploring the device, the SureType text-entry system and other bits and pieces over the next few weeks.  I’ve already got email and instant messaging set up.  Maybe I’ll even use it as a phone one of these days.

Transparency statement: This post is part of a series of blog posts that I’m doing internally for work, being re-published on my main blog. The handset is on-loan to me for a three week period, and I’m not being compensated for writing the reviews.

The Background

This story begins, as so many do, at the beginning.  I have been using a rather sketchy headset for the past several months.  It’s one that I’ve had since 2003 and really, has held up pretty well for a $20 LD Special.  But it was breaking down and it doesn’t provide sufficient audio quality for a really good-sounding podcast.  I’ve been considering starting up a small podcast of my own (see below) and am contributing regularly to the Global Geek Podcast, where Dave puts a supreme effort into audio quality, so I came to the decision that it was time for some new equipment.

Step 1: Fix the old mic

Being the cheap bastard that I am, the first solution involved, time, ingenuity and duct tape.  Suffice to say the solution didn’t exactly work, and may have caused some of the later instabilities in the microphone’s USB adapter.  ((sorry Dave!))

Step 2: Use the built-in Macbook mic

This was a great idea, because it didn’t cost anything.  The only big downside: the mic is hyper-sensitive, and omni-directional.

Step 3: Buy a new cheap mic

The first mic I bought was another cheap inexpensive mic.  The sound was actually worse.  Back to the store.

Step 4: Upgrade to a mid-range headset

After the mic debacle, I realized I probably wasn’t going to get anywhere unless I actually spent some money trying to upgrade the system.  I used this headset for one episode of the GGP, and quite frankly it didn’t cut it.  I could hear that this was the “inexpensive” mic when the show aired.  Back to the store with it.

Step 5: Get some proper gear

After a few chats with Dave and Knightwise, listening to a few equipment reviews on other podcasts and doing a whole lot of reading I figured out what I thought I needed.  I bought the stuff, and after a couple of mix-ups at the store I had everything at home and was ready to start podcasting!

Components

There are two main components to this set up.  The microphone and the mixer.  The reason that we need the mixer is primarly due to the type of mic that I bought.  But more on that later…

Behringer C-1 Studio Condenser Mic

This microphone is a studio-quality microphone that features a cardioid design.  This is a method of keeping the mic directional which dramatically cuts down on ambient noise.  This was one of the first things that struck me when I first tested it.  I was able to record some tests while my lovely wife was watching TV, and you couldn’t hear the TV at all (well you could during the silent parts if you turned up the volume enough).

The mic comes with a standard XLR plug.  This is the same kind of plug that microphones in a recording studio or on stage use.  And since most computers don’t have any way to receive an XLR connection directly, that necessitated an extra piece of hardware: the mixer.

Behringer XENYX 802 Mixer

The mixer I’ve chosen is the second in a line of mixers from Behringer that they produce for everything from basic recording (like a podcast) to professional studio recording.   The mixer has enough inputs for me to hook up the microphone, my keyboard and my ipod (and a few other things) and feed them through the mixer.  The whole works plugs into my macbook through the line-in (mic) port.

There are lots of knobs and controls to adjust the quality and shape of the sound as it passes through the mixer.  A couple of people have suggested that I sound much more “bassey” on the show than I do in person, so I am able to easily turn some knobs (once I figure out which ones) and clean up my sound.

So far I’ve really liked the sound quality that I’ve gotten from the new setup.  I even recorded a video reply on Seesmic using the new mic (at a comfortable enough distance to keep it out of the shot).

Odds and Ends

Then there were the little odds and ends, a cable to connect the mixer to the mic, the mixer to the mac, the ipod to the mixer and the synth to the mixer.  A mic-stand to hold everything up, and a pop-filter to keep me from exploding through your earbuds.  Finally, a late addition to the show, a tie-dyed t-shirt that serves as a vibration dampener.  This allows me to type while I’m recording without messing up the sound quality.  Without the t-shirt it sounds like I’ve mic’d a drum set!

The Foreground

So why am I doing all this?  The simple answer is so that when I want to record something, it doesn’t sound like I’m talking from deep inside a tin-can mounted inside the shower in my bathroom.  Okay maybe the old mic wasn’t quite that bad but you get my point.  Ever since joining the GGP last summer I’ve wanted to help make the show better.  This new setup helps with that goal.  The Global Geek Podcast is one of the best-sounding shows on TPN, and on the whole of the Interwebs.

But that’s not all….

Ever since I really got going with the blog a little more than a year ago, I’ve also been intrigued by podcasting.  I’ve been an avid podcast subscriber and listener (and occasional unsubscriber) for almost two years now.  Right now I have 32 different podcasts subscribed.  Mostly tech shows of various descriptions, but there’s a few more academic shows as well as a travel show and a food show thrown in for good measure.

I’ve always been one who likes to contribute back.  The GGP has given me a fabulous opportunity to stretch my wings and it’s been a great ride.  I’ve been wanting to do my own show since the fall and have batted around several ideas in the process.  I’m getting close to finalizing that decision now.  I have no intention of leaving the GGP; I’ll stay as long as we are able to work together and deliver great content.  This is simply to expand my podcasting repretoire and put out a show with my own personal touches.

So give the new shows a listen and let me know what you think.  If you’re a podcaster, feel free to share your thoughts on gear and podcasting in general.

I finally took the leap and picked up a 16GB iPod Touch. The price is a bit steep compared to that of some of the more traditional media players, but after having played with it for just a couple of days, I’m completely convinced.

The battery life (albeit on a brand spankin’ new unit) has been quite impressive so far. It easily handles a full work day with a mix of audio and video.

The multi-touch interface is near to the holy-grail of modern-day UI design. Everything moves as I expect it to, and reacts as I expect it to (a couple of 3rd-party apps notwithstanding). The UI does a great job of emulating how objects would move or scroll if they were in the physical world.

Third party software is widely available for the iPhone, and luckily for those of us who bought an iPod touch the device can be cracked (Jailbroken) to allow you to place the installed (and myriad other applications) on it. A wonderful feature to make use of the available wifi.

I’ve got lots more to say about this device in the coming days and weeks, including some examples of some great software and hardware iPod Touch hacks.

In my very brief review from the other day, I mentioned that the two cameras carry nearly identical specs, and at the end of the day both of them are going to take excellent pictures.

I’ve posted some of my (very) early efforts up on flickr. Comments welcome. As I get more time with the camera I’ll post some more about my experiences with it.